Twisted
by lovehatedie
Summary: Elena Gilbert has found herself in a dead-end job, too concerned for her brother's health to leave Mystic Falls and attend college. She finds herself loosing interest in her job, her friends and her life as the days begin to blur together as she dreams of a different life. One day out of the blue a mysterious stranger enters her life and turns her world upside down. A Delena Story
1. Another Brick in the Wall

Chapter One

Tap… Tap… Ta-Tap… Tap…

Elena sat at her desk, hitting her pencil against the desk, staring mindlessly at the wall divider that made up one wall of her office space. She knew that she should be focused on the email she was currently composing for her boss, it was 4:45 and she had to finish it before going home. Elena sighed deeply, trying to refocus her attention, but she knew it was no use, there really was no point, her boss would just reword the entire thing, effectively writing it himself, before she could send it off to his client. It was her sixth month at this firm, and even though it was her first job out of high school, she really thought her boss would have more faith in her by now. It really was quite unnerving.

Suddenly, Elena's phone vibrated once, snapping her attention to its spot on her desk, she noticed two things, the text was from Matt and it was past 5pm. 'Shit,' Elena thought to herself,' I have to finish this email, I'll do it quickly, then I can look at my text.' Frantically typing she completed the last few sentences and sent it on to her boss, glancing nervously at his door, she picked up her phone to read Matt's message.

_'Hey Elena, I know we haven't spoken since graduation, but I miss you. Could we please meet up for coffee this Saturday?'_

Elena just stared at the message, barely able to process what was on the screen in front of her. "This can't be happening," she groaned under her breath. She had not seen Matt since their messy break up and felt guilty every time she thought of it. Why did he want to bring this stuff back up into the open air? Why couldn't he just realise that they were in different places emotionally. She was so not ready to settle down with kids and a white picket fence and he was already picking out children's names. She really did not need any of this right now.

Looking back up at her computer screen, Elena realised that her boss had replied to her email, opening up the window she took note of the multitude of changes that had been made. Sighing to herself, she double checked it before sending it through to her boss' client. "This really is pointless," she said to herself as she picked up her handbag and got ready to leave the office. As Elena picked her phone up from her desk, she glanced down at the screen. Matt could wait until she got home before she replied, she needed time to think about what she was going to do.

Elena peered over shoulder as she left the main office space, her gaze lingering on her boss' office door. She shook her head slightly as her gaze dropped and she continued walking towards the elevator. This was not the life she thought she would be living after graduating high school, working a menial job, afraid to go to college and leave Mystic Falls while her brother was under court order to stay at Mystic Falls Rehabilitation Centre until he was given the thumbs up by the head counsellor. Everyone was just so afraid he would relapse again.

As the elevator doors opened, she stepped in, grateful that another day at work was over; this would be the death of her, a slow death, but death nonetheless. The doors shut, just as she heard her boss shout, "Elena wait! I need to talk to you about…" 'Oh well, that can wait until Monday,' Elena thought as she pulled out her phone again to look at Matt's message. Rereading it wouldn't help her come up with an answer, but at least it would remind her to reply to the text eventually. She couldn't stand Matt up, he didn't deserve that.

Stepping out of the elevator, Elena had a quick look around the car park, trying to remember where she left her car. Locating it in the far corner, she took a deep breath, steadying herself, before walking purposefully in that direction. To this day she did not know why, but empty car parks gave her the creeps, more so than any other person she knew. Reaching her car, she quickly opened it; dumping her bag on the passenger seat she got in and turned on the radio. 'One of life's simple pleasures,' she thought, bopping her head up and down in time to the music. Carefully, she reversed out of her parking spot and headed home.

Elena pulled into her driveway 20 minutes later, feeling much better than when she left the office, she switched off the radio, picked up her handbag and got out of the car. Locking the car as she walked to her front door, Elena smiled to herself, 'thank god it's a Friday, I need a break from work.' Opening the front door, Elena dropped her keys in the bowl on the hall stand as well as her bag, scooping out her phone before walking towards the kitchen. Elena sat on a kitchen stool, sighing to herself, as she reopened Matt's message and quickly typed a reply.

_'I'm free mid-afternoon this Saturday, would you like to meet at Mystic Grill for a coffee? It would be great to catch up.'_

Elena hoped that Matt would not get the wrong idea, she couldn't get back together with him, but she couldn't leave him hanging either. That would be too mean. Placing her phone in her pocket, Elena got up from her stool and walked over to the fridge in hopes of finding something for dinner. Popping a tupperware in the microwave she waited for her leftovers to be heated up before dumping them unceremoniously onto a plate. She carried the plate into the TV room, flicked on the TV and started to channel surf. Elena tried desperately to forget about how empty the house felt; she tried desperately to forget about how empty her life was becoming.


	2. Another One Hits the Dust

Chapter Two

Elena groaned in protest as she opened her eyes, noting that the sun was streaming in through the slits of the curtains. She glanced over at the clock on her bedside table, blinking twice as she registered the time blinking back at her. 'Shit, it's 12:30, how could I have slept that late?' Elena thought as she scrambled out of bed, wishing she had set the alarm, or at least gone to bed earlier than 3am. Stumbling to her dresser, Elena pulled out a pair of blue jeans, a black tank top and a matching set of black underwear. Even if she knew no-one was going to see them, it still made Elena feel good to put some thought in her under garments.

Carrying the clothing with her, Elena slipped into the bathroom and placed them carefully on the vanity, making sure she didn't put them in a stray puddle of water. Pulling off her pyjamas, Elena stepped into the shower, turning the taps and waiting for the water to heat up before she stepped in to the cascading water. As the water hit her back, it felt almost like a massage, she loved this sensation; it was more relaxing than listening to good music or a nice cup of coffee. After Elena had washed her hair and body, she sighed, turning off the taps and stepped reluctantly out of the shower. Grabbing her towel from the rack, she dried herself quickly, savouring the warm glow dancing across her skin from the hot water. She quickly put on the clothes she had chosen earlier and dumped her towel and pyjamas in the laundry hamper.

Racing down the stairs Elena went into the TV room in search of her phone, not remembering where she had left it the night before. Looking around the room frantically, she became stressed when it wasn't on the coffee table or under the couch. In a last ditch attempt, she lifted up the cushions on the couch and finally found it wedged into the furniture. Clicking the on button, Elena noticed that she had three messages and a missed phone call. Sitting down on the couch she opened the first message from Matt.

_'That sounds great! Let's say 2pm? I'm really glad you can make it.'_

Elena felt a wave of sadness as she opened the second message, could Matt really think that she was that bad a friend?

_'I haven't heard back from you. Still hoping we are ok to meet up.'_

Looking at the time, Elena calculated she had about 45 minutes before she would have to leave to meet Matt at the Mystic Grill for a 2pm coffee. Clicking the reply button, Elena quickly typed out a message.

_'Sorry Matt, I overslept this morning! 2pm sounds great, I'll see you then.'_

Hoping that would ease Matt's concern, she opened the third message, this one was from Caroline. Elena was surprised that Caroline had texted her out of the blue, they hadn't seen each other in about 6 weeks, ever since Caroline had come back from her trip to India, in order to find her spirituality.

_'Hey Girl! Haven't seen you in ages! We should catch up! Let's hit the town tonight, I feel like I need a good dance!'_

Elena giggled as she read this message, hopefully Caroline was coming off her spiritual high horse and reverting back to the fun loving girl Elena secretly admired. She felt like she had hit the jackpot, she was going to be more social than she had been in a very long time this weekend. With a small smile playing on her lips, Elena typed out a reply to Caroline.

_'That sounds great! A good dance is exactly what the doctor ordered! Where do you want to meet? And when?'_

_'How about Mystic Grill at 8:30? They always have a great DJ on a Saturday night!'_

_'See you then! :)'_

Elena smiled as she got up off the couch, putting her phone in her pocket and went into the kitchen to find a late breakfast. Settling on toast, she ate it in silence with a glass of orange juice before heading upstairs to brush her teeth. Glancing one last time in the mirror to check her appearance, Elena rushed down stairs, picked up her bag and keys and left the house. As Elena pulled into a parking space just in front of Mystic Grill, she checked the time and smiled in relief as she realised she was 5 minutes early.

Scanning the crowd inside, Elena decided to get a seat out the front while she waited for Matt; the weather would hold up long enough for coffee. She picked out a small table and sat in the seat facing the entrance to Mystic Grill, hoping this would increase her chances of finding Matt. Picking up her phone Elena shot him a text.

_'At one of the tables outside, see you soon.'_

Taking a quick look at her phone, she realised that she still had a missed call that she had not checked. Elena did not recognise the number and with a slight frown on her face she dialled her voicemail. Her heart sank when she recognised the voice; it was her boss.

_'Elena, it's me Stefan, I was unable to get a hold of you last night before you left the office. I need to speak to you urgently, please…'_

Elena saw Matt walking towards the Mystic Gill's entrance and waved him over, mouthing 'sorry' before returning her attention back to her phone. This was not the right way to great a friend you haven't seen in 6 months, she cringed inwardly.

_'… call me back as soon as you get this. Call this number, it's my personal phone.'_

Putting her phone back in her bag, she could deal with her boss later, she turned to Matt with what she hoped was a sincere smile.

"Hey Matt, I haven't seen you in ages. How are you?" Elena asked as she got out of her seat to give Matt a quick hug.

"Hey Elena, thank you so much for catching up with me, it's been a hell of a week. It is really good to see a familiar face." Matt replied as they sat down and motioned for a waiter to take their order. "Two Latte's please", Matt ordered as he gave Elena a questioning look. Elena just nodded in agreement, someone ordering for her was one of her pet peeves, but she wasn't going to let it affect their catch up. At least he had ordered her favourite coffee. "So, how have you been?" Matt asked, redirecting his attention towards Elena.

"I can't complain, still working at Mystic Accounting as a PA. How is college going?"

"Yeah, it's better than I ever thought it would be. College football is intense though! I've never trained so hard or so much in my entire life."

"How did you manage to get away from it for a weekend?" Elena teased, feeling that the conversation was weirdly strained.

"Oh, I thought you knew, Vicki's funeral was yesterday. She died of an overdose."

"I'm so sorry Matt, I had no idea, I haven't read the newspaper in so long and Jeremy hasn't been in contact with her since he was caught by the police."

"Yeah, well it meant that I got to skip classes on Thursday and Friday, as well as practice, to come and sort the whole thing out. The funeral was so empty, our mom didn't even show up."

"Oh my god Matt, I wish I had known so I could have been there for you. I am so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you now?"

"No, that's fine… You know what? I actually can't do this. I'll see you around Elena. Goodbye."

With that, Matt got up and walked away, not even looking back. Elena just sat at her seat, dumbfounded, it felt like Matt had just said goodbye for the last time. She was still staring into space, trying to hold back tears as the waiter placed the two Lattes on the table. Guilt washed over her, how could this have happened? How could she have become so disengaged with the rest of the world? To not even realise that one of her best friend's sisters had passed away…

'Jeremy!' the thought snapped her back into reality. Elena hoped that Jeremy didn't know, this sort of thing could set him off again. She pulled out her phone, and called the rehab centre, silently praying as she waited for someone to pick up the phone.

"Mystic Falls Rehabilitation Centre, how can I help you?"

"Hi, this is Elena Gilbert, I was wondering if I could check up on a patient, he is my brother."

"I'm sorry miss, we are unable to give out information over the phone, you will have to come into the centre, so we can verify your identity."

"Of course, thank you, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Dropping money on the table next to the two untouched coffees, Elena rushed over to her car, desperate to know Jeremy was alright. Turning on the radio, Elena tried to calm herself down as she anxiously drove to the rehab centre, her nerves almost getting the better of her. She got to the centre in record time, parking as close as she could to the front entrance. Grabbing her bag she raced to the reception desk and pinged the bell loudly.

A middle aged woman frowned as she came out of her office space to answer the bell. It looked to Elena like she may have disturbed this woman's lunch break.

"How may I help you?"

"Hi, I called a few minutes ago, I just wanted to check on my brothers wellbeing."

"Your name?"

"Elena Gilbert"

"Your brother's name?"

"Jeremy Gilbert"

The receptionist paused slightly to read the computer screen once she had brought up Jeremy's information. Her frown deepened as she turned back to Elena.

"I'm sorry miss…"

Elena's heart stopped momentarily.

"… you are not allowed to see your brother at this moment. He is at a crucial stage of his rehabilitation."

Elena breathed a sigh of relief, "yes, I understand that, I just want to know if he is ok."

"He is fine, his treatment is going well. At this stage you should be able to visit him next Saturday. He should be ready for visitors at that stage. We will notify you to let you know."

"Thank you"

Feeling much lighter, Elena left the centre and headed home. After the initial feeling of relief, she started to feel a bit silly. Of course they would have notified her if anything had happened to Jeremy. She really shouldn't have let her emotions get the better of her.

Sitting down on the couch, Elena opened her phone to check how long she had before she needed to get ready to go and meet Caroline. Staring at her phone, she suddenly remembered the voicemail her boss had left her. Groaning inwardly, Elena hit the recall button. Why couldn't work just stay in the office?

"Hi Stefan, it's Elena, sorry I missed your call earlier."

"That's alright, thank you for getting back to me before tonight. I just wanted to request something from you, this is personal, so I'm sorry if I overstep the line."

Ummmm…

"Sure, what is it you wanted?"

"My brother has recently returned to Mystic Falls and he doesn't really know anybody here anymore except for me…"

Elena started to get cross, surely Stefan was not going to ask her to take his brother out, this was not in her job description! As she started to gather the courage to say no to her boss, she realised that he hadn't finished talking.

"… which means he will probably be out on the town looking for a good time. You are exactly the sort of girl he goes for Elena, which is why I wanted to warn you. Please stay away from him, he is trouble with a capitol T. You don't want to get caught up in his life."

"Um, thanks for the waning Stefan, but I'm not going out at all this weekend, so there is no need to worry. I'll see you at the office on Monday."

Elena quickly hung up her phone. 'How dare Stefan think that he can dictate my personal life,' she seethed. It really was none of his business who she hung out with. She put her phone down on the table and went up to her room to start planning what she was going to wear out tonight with Caroline. Maybe she would keep an eye out for this brother that her boss had warned her against. Not that it really mattered… She hadn't gone out with a guy since Matt 6 months ago.


End file.
